Extension of the Poor Law to Ireland

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Paul Delaney (Trinity College Dublin), Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Domains

Legislation (Bills, Acts, Laws ...)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1838-07-31

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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Four years earlier, in 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed by the Westminster Parliament, which transformed the provision of poor relief in England and Wales. Previous to this, the typical provision was a system of 'outdoor relief' that had been in place relatively unchanged since the sixteenth century. With the new Poor Law, however, poor relief was supposed to be offered only within the confines of the workhouse. These were institutions ordered to be established within each group of parishes, or 'Poor Law Unions', where the poor could be kept and made to provide useful work, while being given basic support. However, to discourage their being used as free board and lodging, conditions within the workhouse were supposed to be as unappealing as possible, and less attractive than…

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169 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Extension of the Poor Law to Ireland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4776, accessed 06 May 2024.]

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